Existence of nodal solutions of semilinear equations in \({\mathbb{R}}^ n\) (Q919181)

Under suitable hypotheses on a locally bounded measurable function \(f: {\mathbb{R}}\to {\mathbb{R}},\) the main theorem states that the semilinear elliptic equation \(\Delta u=f(u)\) has a radial solution \(u\in H^ 1({\mathbb{R}}^ 2)\) or \(u\in D^{1,2}({\mathbb{R}}^ N)\) (N\(\geq 3)\) with any prescribed number of zeros in (0,\(\infty)\). The results apply to the zero mass case \(f'(0)=0\) as well as the positive mass case. An important part of the proof is an a priori estimate for a radial solution with exactly n zeros, from which topological degree arguments can be utilized. Similar results were obtained by \textit{C. Jones} and \textit{T. Küpper} [SIAM J. Math. Anal. 17, 803-835 (1986; Zbl 0606.35032)] via dynamical systems analysis.